Veggie, Chicken Wraps ~ how I include sprouts in our meals

Taste and texture isn't the only factor. Many people have a hard time digesting raw foods in large quantities and may not have the digestive enzymes to do so.

One option to add the health benefits of sprouted seeds in a more palatable way is by adding them to wraps! In this case I used rice paper wraps that you may recognize as the essential ingredient in spring rolls.

Recently I saw a video showing how to make crunchy spring rolls without deep frying them ~ by covering them with sesame seeds and toasting them on a cask iron pan! I decided to give this recipe a try with, of course, a pile of fresh alfalfa sprouts as well as grated carrot, grated cheese, and chicken with teriyaki sauce.

Wrapping these rolls with rice paper is the trickiest part. My first tries were not so neat but eventually I got the timing right. The rice paper circles need to soak in a plate of water for about a minute until they are perfectly flexible and sticky but not too much so. Then, I piled up the ingredients, rolled them like a burrito and set the roll on a plate of toasted sesame.

(( As always, I soaked the sesame seeds over night and rinsed them before toasting them in the oven for 10 minutes. Soaking seeds is essential to healthy digestion which you can read more about here >> The Importance of Soaking Seeds and Grains ))

With all the rolls rolled and sprinkled with sesame seeds I prepared the skillet. My kitchen supplies were running very low so I used butter to coat the pan as it heated on the flame, but I think coconut oil would be even better.

In the past the sticky rice paper stuck to the pan during this step so it is important to use enough butter or oil. More than anything the layer of sesame seeds saved the day, they make a little barrier so that the rice paper can be toasted on the pan without getting stuck there.

Each roll was cooked in the pan a minute or two on each side and ten I put them all into the oven on a glass tray while I focused on the salad.

My partner who is normally a little resistant to any dish included lots of raw sprouts said this was his favorite meal in a long time. Now that I have a little practice using rice paper and have learned about the simple trick of using sesame seeds I think this meal will be in weekly rotation for weeks, or months to come!